Tiger favored at Bay Hill, climbs in rankings

Sunday’s second-place finish at the Valspar Championship has Tiger Woods soaring up the Official World Golf Ranking list and catching the attention of bettors.

The Bovada online gambling site has installed Woods as the 13-2 favorite this week at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he’s won eight times since 2000.

Last weekend’s strong showing vaulted Woods another 239 places up the OWGR list.

Woods had slipped to as low as No. 1,199 last year after making his return to competitive golf following a fourth back surgery in April. Sunday’s result moved him from 388th to 149th, Woods’ best ranking in nearly three years.

And it’s a low bar to clear in order for him to keep climbing, since the OWGR list is calculated over a two-year period. Given that he has scarcely played since August 2015, nearly every week that he makes the cut this season and next will result in a net gain in points for Woods.

Dustin Johnson currently sits atop the OWGR standings. Woods has occupied that spot for a record 683 weeks in his career.